One Year After The Storms

One year ago, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, devastating portions of the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama coastlines. A day later, the levees in New Orleans gave way, and much of the city was inundated with floodwaters. As a nation, we were transfixed by the televised reports of human desperation in the chaotic days that followed. Less than a month later, another powerful storm, Hurricane Rita, ravaged the Gulf Coast of Texas.

C&EN's Nov. 21, 2005, cover story, "Faces of the Storm," consisted of 11 profiles of individuals associated with the chemical enterprise whose lives were turned upside down by Katrina and Rita. In this week's issue, we revisit those individuals in the story "Road to Recovery" (see page 39).

The same team of seven C&EN reporters−Assistant Managing Editor Linda R. Raber, Deputy Assistant Managing Editor Amanda Yarnell, Senior Correspondent Marc S. Reisch, Senior Editors Bette Hileman and Elizabeth K. Wilson, Associate Editor Bethany Halford, and Assistant Editor Rachel Petkewich−contacted all of the people profiled last year to find out how they've managed, professionally and personally, since the storms hit. What they recount are stories of amazing resilience, courage, and perseverance.

Yarnell coordinated the effort. Raber visited New Orleans in August to interview Jack H. Stocker, emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of New Orleans (UNO); she took many of the powerful photographs that accompany the text.

Life is anything but normal on the Gulf Coast one year after the hurricanes. Rebuilding, especially in New Orleans, has been slow. Yet almost all of the people C&EN profiled last year have returned to the area. While most are still coping with the havoc the storms wreaked on them personally, most have resumed their professional lives.

Resilience seems to be the character trait that comes through most strongly in the story. N. Dale Ledford, a chemistry professor at the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast campus, told C&EN: "It's amazing how resilient people are. I don't find that I hear very many complaints." If anything, Ledford said, the past year's challenges have made the students more dedicated to their studies.

Chemistry departments at Xavier University, Tulane University, and UNO have fared remarkably well in the past year, C&EN reporters discovered. Chemical industry facilities in the region have also resumed normal operations, although many workers at those facilities are still living in temporary housing.

Even Stocker, whose New Orleans home was a complete loss, told Raber that "I am slowly coming out of the blue funk of the past year." He has even started to collect books again (he lost a collection of about 30,000 science-fiction novels in the flood).

There are many other important stories and features in this week's issue of C&EN, but two deserve special note. One is our annual education supplement (see page 87), which examines innovations in academic chemistry programs and provides practical tips for academic job hunters. The four articles in the supplement focus on the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate, which is helping reshape the Ph.D. degree; studying chemistry abroad; chemical engineering students looking for real-world experience before graduation as interns or co-op students; and a list of 10 tips to help postdocs land faculty positions. There are also 26 pages of classified ads at the end of the issue, most of them for just those highly sought-after academic positions.

Finally, the issue contains the candidates' election statements and backgrounds for this year's elections to American Chemical Society national offices (see page 58). Four distinguished academic chemists are running for the office of 2007 president-elect. Two district directors and three director-at-large positions will also be filled. All candidates have provided statements outlining their vision for ACS and their priorities in office should they be elected. Ballots will be mailed on Sept. 25; the deadline for return of marked ballots is close of business on Nov. 3. Votes can also be cast electronically.

I urge all ACS members to read the candidates' statements carefully and to VOTE when your ballot arrives. The individuals who will fill these positions help determine the future of your society.

Thanks for reading.

Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACS.